


The Lost

by Gylfie109



Series: Lost In The Ebb And Flow Of The Tide [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Child Death, Child Murder, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Most of the people listed are only mentioned, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 08:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26968864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gylfie109/pseuds/Gylfie109
Summary: There is something going on in the elemental nations. Murders and disappearances all over the continent, and the only thing connecting them is the two ghostly apparitions of children seen before each instance, that the villagers have taken to calling The Lost, or simply Them.orSuzuki and Hisoka die young, and Uzushio is more of a ghost town than people thought.
Series: Lost In The Ebb And Flow Of The Tide [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713016
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	The Lost

‘ _ Danzo was found dead in his home last night _ .’ The people of the village whisper among themselves.

‘ _ I hear it has to do with the Lost.’  _ An older woman says, and a hush falls over the crowd. No one wants to invoke their name, for fear that they will be next.

The woman is left standing alone, her companions giving her a wide berth, as if just being near someone who had spoken of the Lost would mark them for death next.

‘ _ What did he do that was bad enough to draw the attention of Them? He was just an old man. _ ’ 

_ ‘It must have been bad. They only go after those who commit unspeakable acts of treachery.’  _ teenagers gossip in the quiet hush of the dark at night, tucked into the safety of their rooms as if that would keep them from being heard.

_ ‘Tsunade disappeared. No one has heard or seen anything of her in weeks. There hasn’t even been a new casino owner here demanding that we pay her debt.’ _

_ ‘Are you sure that she just hasn't been recovering from some sort of super hangover?’ _

_ ‘No, you don’t get it. The last time anybody saw her, she was being tailed by two children.’ _

_ ‘You don’t think-’ _

_ ‘They got her. It’s the only possible explanation.’  _

_ ‘Geez, not even the Sannin are safe from Them.’  _ An exchange is overheard between two shinobi in the Hokage tower. They fall into a coma later that week and pass away, those who overheard the conversation felt like they were being watched and grew too paranoid to continue to come to work.

Privately, in an empty house filled with the ghosts of his family, a young child prays that They will kill his brother for him. He doesn’t believe he’s strong enough to take that task on alone.

In an orphanage filled with too much hate, another child prays for someone, anyone to save him from the glares and mistreatment from the villagers. Later on that week, He disappears and no one cares for the bright eyed missing child.

No one hears the carefree laughter of a child echo through the night.

The Yondaime Mizukage, as trapped in his own head as he is, begs for someone to save him from himself, to save his village from his body. For someone to finally take his head and stop his reign of terror.

In a similar situation, a person continues to commit horrendous acts of murder even as they strain against the seal forcing them to obey. They secretly hope for release as they watched themselves continue to hurt the ones they loved.

While the Mizukage’s disappearance is celebrated by the people of his village, no one notices the absence of the snake's favored summoner, save for their childhood friend, who starts scouring the nations in search for his lost friend.

A village in the desert rejoices at the same time as it mourns. It rejoices for the death of the monster dressed as a kid, but mourns the disappearance of the Kazekage's other two children and the death of it’s Yondaime.

A child with pink hair laments the lack of attention her parents give her, and her body aches from the injuries her bullies gave her. She hates living in a place she doesn’t fit in, and so she follows a soft voice in the forest that promise’s of a better life by the sea. No one notices the absence of bright green eyes and cotton candy hair until it’s too late.

When the Amekage and his angel disappear, the entire country goes into a frenzy in search of their leaders. Only a single paper flower is found.

A man with a body that's only half his own secretly wishes that he had died in that accident so long ago. He finds a small child offering their hand to them. It is such a strange sight on its own that he almost misses the horrible gaping wound in the side of their chest, burnt flesh around the edges and the mess of splintered bone and mashed organs visible when they move too much. He takes her hand anyways, leaving an ancient being wondering where his pawn went.

Two children in Iwa, stuck in an orphanage where neither of them belong, disappear during lunch at the Academy, the smaller one dragging her adoptive older brother to meet her new friends. They are never seen again.

No one notices as all of the world's jinchuriki slowly disappear, at least, until it’s too late and there is no sign of any of the Biju resurfacing.

No one notices the ruins of a long destroyed village slowly being rebuilt by invisible hands.

When the Sandaime Hokage is found murdered in his office, it’s clear to everyone exactly what befell him. He is found slumped in his chair, bruises around his throat in the shape of tiny hands. His expression is not one of fear, but one of sorrow, as if he felt bad for his killer. On his desk sits a folder with bloody writing smeared across the front in a child's unsteady handwriting.

_ ‘ **Clan Killer’** _

When Nara Shikaku is appointed the Godaime Hokage, He tries to pull the child of his best friend out of the orphanage, only to discover that no one has seen the kid for years. And when he learns of the truth about the Uchiha clan massacre, he takes it upon himself to tell the last survivor the truth. He sends out multiple search parties for Itachi, only for them all to come back empty handed.

He knows what happened to the teen, but he denies it only for the sake of the small child now living in his home. 

The search parties continue.

A file makes it to his desk at one point, and he shoves it under the mountains of paperwork to look at after they are done. 

It stays there forgotten for months until the last Uchiha disappears from his bedroom in the middle of the night. 

In his grief, Shikaku locks himself in his office and gets to work. The file makes it into his hands once more. He opens it and screams in rage, both for the dead family that stares up at him and at the fact that he wasn’t able to strangle the man who had caused their deaths. 

Uchiha Kameko and Senju Takahiro stare up at him, two of his old classmates that had run away to be together when they were only 18. He had always wondered what had happened to them, but now he wishes he didn’t know.

Their two toddlers pale and bloody blank faces stare at him, and he cries for the lives that were cut too short.

Uchiha Suzuki and Senju Hisoka were only 5 and 4 when they were murdered in their homes by ROOT, caught trying to escape through the trapdoor under the floor. If they had lived, they would’ve been 12 and 11, only a few years older than his Shikamaru.

It doesn’t help that he recognizes both of them from the multiple reports of deaths caused by The Lost. They died in such a violent way that they couldn’t pass on. The least he could do was remember their names and give them the honor of a proper burial.

While their bodies were burned with their parents, that did not mean that he couldn’t give them a place in the graveyard alongside the rest of their families.

Six new tombstones were placed in the Uchiha graveyard, all of the graves empty. 

By the next morning, it was declared that all of the Uchiha were now pronounced dead. Shikaku pretends he doesn’t hear the soft crying or feel the small hands grabbing at his coat or the small breathy ‘ _thank you_ ’s that drift by on the wind.

When the ROOT outposts are discovered, all of the agents are found slaughtered in their bunks. There are no children among the corpses. 

Jiraiya never makes it back home, stepping out onto the ocean following a voice only he can hear. The toad contract is lost forever, just like all of the summoners.

In Kusa, a small red haired girl runs away from her home after witnessing her village kill her mother for her ability. She runs, holding the hand of a much smaller girl who leads her to safety. Neither girl is ever seen again.

No one notices that the once lost village of Uzushio is thriving, it’s heart filled with song, voices of all the people who had been stolen away, echoing in joy. No one knows the truth behind the disappearances, and that’s just the way it’s two saviors' like it. 

They just have one last thing they need to do.

Hatake Kakashi is left alone in his village. His former team is dead, his father is dead, his little brother is gone and no one knows where he is. He has no purpose left, so it’d be better for him to just disappear like everyone else in his life. 

Kakashi is dragged from his spot on the cliff by too small, too cold hands. He looks at his tiny savior and cries when he sees his little brother standing with an even smaller little boy. He chokes on his tears when the boy he had wanted to take in from the get go smiles at him, and he can see straight through the both of them. He almost misses the fact that the smaller boy is covered in his own blood, leaking from the gaping hole in his throat. 

_ ‘Come with us!’  _ Naruto laughs and holds out his hand. He doesn’t even stop to consider that he might be actually going insane when he takes his little brother's hand and lets him lead him away. 

_ ‘We’ve all been waiting for you, Kakashi. Welcome home.’ _ The smaller boy says, and they disappear, never to be seen again.

Years down the line, all the villages will tell stories about The Lost, or Them, and of how they always showed up when someone was guilty of a crime most horrendous as a cautionary tale. No one mentions the fact that almost all of their victims were those who were wronged by the world around them, or maybe that has just been lost to time. 


End file.
